Hello! Project is holding an audition for girls age 10~17 that want to be active in Hokkaido and who love to sing and dance. They must live in Sapporo. application date is 5/15 to 6/14.http://www.hokkaido-audition.com/

It's interesting that they're wanting them to be primarily active in Hokkaido. I wonder if they've had issues with getting some of the girls to move all the way to Tokyo and this could be an alternative?

They also previously had a separate Hokkaido audition from UP-FRONT PROMOTION SAPPORO Group (the Sapporo Group is now under UP-FRONT AGENCY) before with similar requirements, but never reported if they found any girls for KSS.

Hopefully with Country Girls revival and 3 Hokkaido girls in the main H!P roster (Sato Masaki, Inaba Manaka, Tanimoto Ami), they will make this audition successful and find more girls from there.

I'm all for new members and stuff, but I do wish they'd slow down. I know it's so graduations don't hurt as much (and to get more money & fans) but I feel like if they become over-saturated there will be less and less opportunities for the girls to shine. It's like what's happened with *48... I don't want to see H!P become that way.

I mean, I'm sure ℃-ute won't be around forever and unfortunately it's probable that we'll see someone from MM。graduate next year, and Momoko's only hanging around for a few years, but at the moment there are 52 current H!P members (not counting KSS or Aika) and we don't... need that many more.

I hope they start taking things slowly, like maybe have the girls be in training for a little while before their debut. As much as I love new groups and new girls joining H!P, we already have 3 new groups that are going to debut within a year of each other.

that rivalry argument is kinda silly. there's 48 groups popping up everywhere, I never expected NGT48 to come before SPR48 though. they've been speculating SPR48 since 2012. since HP is doing it first right now, hypothetically you won't see anything from SPR48 until possibly next year, or a few years after considering the gap between HKT48 and NGT48.

I'll never understand HP's weird fascination with girls from Hokkaido though. Hopefully this is more of a success than Hello Kansai.At this points it just feels like a repeat of Hello Kansai.

If I remember correctly, UF has some property up there and I like to think in a tin foil hat way that whoever runs UF has a soft spot for the area. A lot of great H!P members came from there. It's like an untapped well of gold just waiting to be brought to Tokyo.

Think of it in this way, someone from Alaska coming to Hollywood to make it big. That's how I view Hokkaido.

But I also think of this in terms of Up Front Kansai. They have their office and now they want one in Hokkaido. It's smart that they are getting a head start over 48.

It's almost comforting to me as a long time fan to have people from Hokkaido in the group and I'd be sad to see that stop because another mega group dried up the well of potential idols.

I don't think plans for SAP48/SPR48/Sapporo48 whatever will be cancelled just because H!P wants to make the city their idol mecca. 48 groups can crush anything in their way. What will happen will happen.

For me, this audition just shows how important Hokkaido is for H!P. Hokkaido girls are a big part of their legacy. It's a shame Country Girls doesn't have more than one of them. Perhaps the Hokkaido girls from this audition will join them when Momoko will inevitably graduate within 2 years. Remember that her stay in CG is temporary and H!P has to think in the long term.

First and for most, this has nothing to do with the failed Country Musume audition (that audition was looking for girls all over Japan, not just in Hokkaido). However, it could be inspired by the group (initial based in Hokkaido) and the recent promoted members from that prefecture (Inaba, Tanimoto).

As of now, they are simply just looking for members specifically from Hokkaido (hence the term "limited"). They did not mentioned if it's to add girls from Hokkaido to an existing group or if it's for a new unit. They did not described if it's for main H!P or something like Hello Pro Kansai, although it's already speculated by Nikkan Sports that it might be for a Sapporo based unit. This audition is not for Hello Pro Kenshuusei, you have to audition for that separately.

The girls selected will have to be able to commute to Sapporo to get training.

This is why people like me are speculating that it might be for a Hokkaido unit and/or Hello Pro Sapporo. It would make it easier for future KSS members from there for get training if something like Hello Pro Sapporo happens.

I find this audition to be interesting. With the lack of information we have, it could turn out to be a surprise.